i adore scorsese, hes probably my favourite all-round film-maker. i wasnt aware of any sort of negligence towards scorsese’s regard, and im from an art background. tarantino on the other hand, i dont find to be taken very seriously. i think of tarantino as a good starting point for the potential cinephile, and is easily grown out of. while i like kubrick, i find him to be more of an interesting concept than fully enjoying his work.
scorsese is such a film buff that i find it difficult not to enjoy his passion and hes practically a living encyclopedia on the matter too.
oh and i presume the lack of scorsese titles on here is more to do with the fact that the site is in beta still, more will arrive!
Oh there’s lots of Scorsese fans out there – the man is revered, and deservedly so in my opinion. Comparisons of his reputation vs. the reputation of Kubrick, Kurosawa, et. al. is apples-to-oranges: they are all remarkable, in their own way. And – definitely like Kubrick and Kurosawa, there are complex and very fascinating thematic linkages (and not violence, for its’ own sake at least) that runs very consistently through all of Scorsese’s work: think (as an example) of how the Biblically-derived narrative and narrative structure at the heart of Casino relates to films like Kundun or The Last Temptation Of Christ.
Tarantino I find far less interesting – he has been entertaining, but I haven’t yet spotted (someone is free to enlighten me) much of a worldview beyond (a) stereotypcal ghetto dialogue is cool, perhaps even cooler than Spike Lee, who isn’t as black as I am, (b) French new wave is cool, especially when they dance, © kung fu and HK action flicks are cool, and (d) feet are cool, especially if they are big and connected to Uma. Which is all … cool … – the man definitely knows how to put a rip-roaring flick together – but, once we’ve established that, then what?
oops – silly double post…
Raging Bull- the most vivid account of what it is to be a man
Taxi Driver- the most vivid and acute account of loneliness ever put to film.
Two of the finest films ever made….
Well, I’m glad to see I was wrong, and probably searching in the wrong channels, so it’d be cool if we could post our favorite Scorsese film and why, as of me, Goodfellas is my favorite because of the clear influence from the Neorealists and Truffaut, and the way it ends with the romantic myth about gangsters created by The Godfather, which is a wonderful film, and actually intends to portray what Scorsese called the high class gangster, and not the working class type, but anyway, the realism in the film is just so great and raw. I think it’s the culmination of the Maestro’s work. I love Taxi Driver and several others maybe as much, but there’s a bit of every Scorsese film in Goodfellas, and that’s why it’s my favorite.
Well thanks to you for an interesting thread. I couldn’t pick a favorite – there’s at least one of his films (New York, New York) I didn’t much care for, but otherwise my favorites shift around. Apart from the obvious – Taxi Driver and Raging Bull – I personally find his less famous films, or his seemingly atypical films, to be far more interesting in what they reveal of his world view. He has a great, very classical theme – an inner ‘drive,’ which might show up as a quest for redemption, or a detour into the kind of criminal life seen in Goodfellas_, or an attempt at re-inventing a life and re-casting ones’ identity (_Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore), and I think in his view those are all different sides of the same coin.
This is a far from original observation, and I’d been familiar with Scorsese for quite a while, when I recall one night – about 10 years ago – watching Casino with a roommate. He grew up in an extremely religious family, and had become an agnostic as an adult, but growing up, he had read the entire Bible, and could quote from it. And as we were watching the film, he did a more-or-less spontanous deconstruction of Casino – identifying it as a modern-day retelling of the story of Sodom & Gomorrah (with unconventional sexual behavior changed to one of the deadly sins – greed, specifically), and then pinpointing the parallel plot points.
This completely rewired my take on Scorsese, and his Catholicism – specifically how unconventional, and very personally, intellectually thought out it is – a definite departure from mainstream spiritual thought, but very, very deep nontheless. I began trying to see what kinds of things might connect his rather diverse body of work, and there are many running themes, which – at this point – are highly evolved. I have a great repsect for a certain kind of classically defined storytelling, and also for allegory and a sense of morality that transcends the limitations of any specific kind of faith (Goodfellas I think is a great example of this); to me this is indicative of a great filmmaker who has also never lost an awareness of the outside world.
I think – to indulge in some comparisons again – in this Scorsese does profoundly resemble Kurosawa, and the uneven but still interesting Moshen Makhmalbaf (whose highly allegorical and at times Zen-like relationship to Islam is a close mirror of Scorsese’s relationship to Catholicism), and also perhaps Satyajit Ray…
he is brilliant, and can get so much out of an actor it is obscene
Scorsese is a god.
What intrigues me about Scorcese is what a great film buff he is himself. I keep running into his very incisive reviews of key films everywhere. I just finished watching Criterion’s version of Red Shoes, which includes his commentary on the revolutionary use of color sequences in this film. He is also on YouTube talking about Antonioni’s 60s Italian films in a very insighful way. His great knowledge and appreciation of cinematic history and the film as an art form show in his most carefully crafted films. We all know the films of his we love, but I think we should recognize how good he is handling a different type of material, as he does in Age of Innocence. I recently read a pan of this movie on another Criterion fan website, but I think it is a brilliant adaption of the Edith Wharton novel. He is also an awesome documentary film maker, as his series on Bob Dylan and his film of the Band demonstrate. We also cannot ignore his great wit and sense of the absurd as demonstrated in After Hours and King of Comedy. Saying all this, he did also make The Gangs of New York, which I persoanlly found a great disappointment. Others may disagree with me. Oh well, even Scorcese is human.
I think Bob has a great point, not only is the man a great filmmaker, but he’s also a walking encyclopedia. He is the one who made me look at films in a different way and not just see a couple of guys doing something on the screen, but a couple of characters being shot in a specific way to express something and constructed by language and gestures. The way he talks about films is just wonderful. The second film I saw of his was My Voyage to Italy, and the way he describes every scene is just so passionate and accurate, that you have to be too insensitive to not fall in love with films. Scorsese is, to me, more than a person, a character who I’d find really hard to dislike.
I think Bob has a great point, not only is the man a great filmmaker, but he’s also a walking encyclopedia. He is the one who made me look at films in a different way and not just see a couple of guys doing something on the screen, but a couple of characters being shot in a specific way to express something and constructed by language and gestures. The way he talks about films is just wonderful. The second film I saw of his was My Voyage to Italy, and the way he describes every scene is just so passionate and accurate, that you have to be too insensitive to not fall in love with films. Scorsese is, to me, more than a person, a character who I’d find really hard to dislike.
I think Bob has a great point, not only is the man a great filmmaker, but he’s also a walking encyclopedia. He is the one who made me look at films in a different way and not just see a couple of guys doing something on the screen, but a couple of characters being shot in a specific way to express something and constructed by language and gestures. The way he talks about films is just wonderful. The second film I saw of his was My Voyage to Italy, and the way he describes every scene is just so passionate and accurate, that you have to be too insensitive to not fall in love with films. Scorsese is, to me, more than a person, a character who I’d find really hard to dislike.
Scorsese comes from the roots of filmmakers who have actually learned from the films of, say, Buñuel, Godard, Fellini, Kurosawa, etc. (the legends) to become an undeniable legend himself. He is a definite gem. I think something like The Last Temptation of Christ, a film I greatly respect and admire, came as sort of a wake up call to many being such a sudden break from the “gangster” genre he is often tied to, though he had strayed from it before. He has such definite sides, but as he’s developed, these styles, which draw from different influences, have come to kind of converge in each other: his films more and more are starting to combine elements from all his many sides into one film. Gangs of New York, for example, was a gangster film yet also a period piece, of sorts. There are traces of so many of his influences crafted in new and exciting ways with each film he releases, and it was definitely time that he won an Oscar (though with all the exceptions surrounding the award, it seems it doesn’t quite mean what it may once have).
I remember two occasions: his essay in the Criterion release of Godard’s Contempt, and his interview on the release of Pietro Germi’s comic masterpiece Divorce Italian Style. I think his genuine love for film, which shines through whenever he takes time to discuss it, is something that sets him apart, and which he works into his films.
Of course, combining elements into features is hardly Scorsese’s end; he wouldn’t be who he is without his blazing originality and strong cinematic voice. He has single-handedly provided the world a modern tweak on neo-realist cinema.
Personally, my favorite is taxi driver. That film is just amazing.
i don’t get the lines of continuity people are trying to draw between scorsese and neo-realism. someone please enlighten me.
Okay, I don’t think anyone can doubt Scorcese as a great film-maker but to say he is the “one who perfected the formula left by Kubrick and other great artists such as Fellini, Kurosawa…” is a statement that almost makes no sense to me whatsoever.
First off, that’s taking three directors who are incredibly different from one another (Kubrick, Fellini and Kurosawa) and saying that there was a formula that made them all great and similar artists. There’s no doubt in my mind as to the huge difference in cultural and social influences that shaped all three of these through their work. I understand you’re not trying to put one of them on a pedestal above the others, but I would say that opinion on Scorcese perfecting any particular film-making formula is definitely a falsehood. In fact, as of now I think Scorcese may be one of the greatest living directors around but he has yet to eclipse Fellini, Kubrick or Kurosawa.
scorsese has lost his touch, somewhat. “the departed” was extremely flawed. not worthy at all of the director of “goodfellas”. unfortunately, it seems like his best films are behind him. not that that’s uncommon for great film directors.
I think David is right, I actually meant something else but got carried away a little bit… quiet a lot actually, lol, I also think his influences are very different from each other, but what I really mean is that he took elements from each of them a created a style of his own that, to me, is the greatest I’ve seen, Scorsese tries to portray reality just like the neorealists, he is clearly influenced by surrealists (especially Fellini) in dream sequences or dreamlike scenes, like the ones in Raging Bull, he has a clear biblical influence (that’s actually a personal trademark made by himself) like the one David! highlighted in Casino, but anyway, that’s all I meant, but you’re right, David, each of his influences are the best at what they do, I mean, there’s no one who can make cinema the way they did. No one can make samurai cinema like Kurosawa or neorealism like De Sica or surrealism like Buñuel or Fellini, and Scorsese himself knows that.
Alonso: Yeah, I kind of did interpret what you said a bit too literally, but I do understand what you mean by Scorcese being influenced by all the films of Kubrick, Fellini and Kurosawa and other film-makers to create his own style. Because I think if anything, his overall work has shown he has had a very dynamic career in terms of his film-making technique. You have to know the rules in order to bend them and I agree that Scorsese is good at that.
Booby said “scorsese has lost his touch, somewhat”
Totally disagree.
The Departed was brilliant, Gangs and The Aviator simply awesome.
Never mentioned, possibly because of the controversy, is The Last Temptation of Christ, a flawed but well directed movie. It’s a personal favorite.
I thought The Departed was brilliant as well.
And Mean Streets… Raging Bull… Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore… The King Of Comedy… Taxi Driver… Goodfellas… The Age Of Innocence… The Aviator…
The man oozes cinema out of every pore.
That’s something I wanted to make a post about too, The Departed, I mean I thought it was a brilliant film, it’s clearly (at least to me) a tribute to the B movies and film noir Scorsese used to watch as a kid, but with his touch in it. There’s lots of dialogue scenes that if not for the Scorsesesque (It’s a new word I read somewhere around here a while ago) language would sound really cheesy, just like those old gangster films. I think it’s a great film that sholudn’t be compared to other Scorsese gangster films since it’s too different, it does keep the realism but at the same time bends it, I mean, what kind of gangster phlosophizes the way Frank Costello does? But the character seems to be some kind of intellectual gangster, and the way it recreates Boston is very realistic, so every detail is justified and although Scorsese himself said this is his “first B-movie”, I think his touch made it a realistic one, and that’s why I think it’s brilliant.
A little something I wrote about Scorsese:
http://tinyurl.com/68jpl8
I am thrilled by Scorsese and think his films are a wonderful contribution to the art of cinema. My favorites include Goodfellas, The Aviator, and The Departed.
I love Scorsese and he’s still doing some great work. I believe him to be one of the best directors sill making films and The Departed shows he’s still got a lot of great work left in him. I am a huge fan of all the aforementioned works, but didn’t see much about The King Of Comedy. Which I believe to be some of his best and most overlooked work and one of my favorite movies.
I love Scorcese, and he certainly is one of the best directors in history. But he’s definitely not the best and niether is Tarantino. I won’t proclaim that! There is nothing in the world like watching a Kubrick or Lynch movie. And while I love Scorcese to death! In my opinion, he just doesn’t hold a candle to something like that.
I love Scorsese!
Bringing out the Dead to me was the last real Scorsese movie to come out and one of my favorites if not my favorite next to Taxi Driver and Casino. That was 1999.
To me Bringing Out the Dead is one of the most beautiful movies of all time
the cinematography is stellar and it is probably the closest thing we nerds are gonna get to a Taxi Driver sequel..
in terms of look it is a sequel.
American Boy and Italian-American are great documentaries with great moments
I love hearing all of Price’s stories and I love hearing Scorseses’ parents yell at him for putting his hands in his mouth
But I feel Gangs Of New York was a disappointment as was The Departed.
I feel Gangs Of New York should of been made in 70s like it was schdueled to it would be been better ( different producers and suits)
One big problem I had with Gangs was the casting of Cameron Diaz which was a bad choice..her accent was bad.
The only reason why I’ll watch Gangs if its on is for the performance of Daniel Day Lewis..he was phenomenal as Bill Cutting..
also I like the character that he eventually killed outside the barber shop( great scene and good actor) after that this movie was crap…
it need re-writes and I feel Scorsese should experiment more with the camera..like he used. Maybe its not all of Scorsese’s fault. I feel the studios clamp him down and force him to go into certain directions..less violence..less nudity..less explict nature..less explict nature overall..
You look at the Ocean 11 films and AT least Soderburgh is experimenting…they may not have the best writing but hes experimenting..oceans 13 is crap though..
The Departed was a movie I was excited for and followed but upon its release and after the credits I was disappointed.
FIRST AND FOREMOST…why cast a good actor like Ray Winestone as Frank Costellos right hand man and not have any charcter devolpment…I mean all we get is him strangling his wife in a flashback? We need to fear the crew more..we need to see the crew interact with one another…Fittsy was a cool character we needed more of him..WE Needed to see more of Leo’s character’s background…his uncle..his father..the legacy of Uncle Jackie what the town was like under his rule..Frank Costello backstory how he came to be..Collin’s family..
We need more scenes of violence, i didnt fear the irish like i was supposed to. They need to show the Irish being crazy, dismantling the bodies..excessive cocaine use..i mean i am getting some of this from my reading of T.J Englishs’ The Westies..but c’mon you could incorporate those details into script…
I was bothered by the end after Walhberg shoots Damon if you look close the guy on the ground has black hair and looks nothing like Matt Damon..(horrible stand-in) ….then the rat or rats at the end…c’mon why not birds instead rats is tooooo much and how many times have you seen rats outside a terrace!?
I wanted to see Leo doing more criminal acts and getting lost undercover..i remember when the movie was comming out i was scouting fourms and i remember the script having Leo’s character devolping a prescription drug probelem showing him snorting the pills..(think Declan in Brotherhood Season 2)
Finally the casting of Jack Nickelson was a mistake. I love Jack but he was to over the top here and unrealestic. In the end I love watching this performance by him because hes just full throttle..i feel scorsese didnt pull the regins on him like he should of..I feel Ted Levine would of better as Frank Costello ( see him in the shitty mel gibson movie Payback he had the look in that movie)
Departed also need more music infused scenes.. I did like what he did have….i LOVE the “Let It Loose” scene in the bar where Frank smashes Bills arm..i love that scene..I like the scene with Nas’ Theif Theme..(Leo’s recommendation?, i HAVE a feeling hes a nas fan)
The well well well scene was cool as well… a side from that the love triangle was corny…but i love how mark cleans up the mess
The Aviator was good
He’s my all time favorite as well. I love his films, his love of films, I love listening to him talk about film. I wish he were my uncle.
And I would LOVE to see Criterion release Kundun on blu-ray!
Alonso Díaz de la Vega
Well, you’ll see, Scorsese is my all time favorite director, his movies are not only realistic, but in some strange sense, a part of reality, so I wonder, Why do many people in either the art film sector or the mainstream audience underrate him?, I mean just look at many of the folks around here, everybody loves either Tarantino or Kubrick, not ever caring that Scorsese is a great influence on Tarantino and the one who perfected the formula left by Kubrick and other great artists such as Fellini, Kurosawa, Buñuel, Godard, and so on. I don’t mean to say he’s the greatest ever, ‘cause I tend to think there is a list of the greatest directors, but there can never exist one who is better than everyone else ’cause they’re so different, but anyway, I am just trying to realize if there’s more people who trully love his work besides a few I know. Oh, and by the way, I’d also like to know if you’d like to see more of his films here in The Auteurs, I mean they’ve got Only three?! C’mon, give me a break.